September 07, 2013

A Picnic at the Beach

Our friend Joe has a 'bucket list' he is trying to complete. One of the items on his lists was a picnic by the ocean. When I first started planning the picnic for Joe, I had no idea that was one of the items on his list until Ellen told me. We must have been on the same wave-length.

Joe, Kevan, Ellen, Brenda and William at the table

I chose Leleiwi Beach Park because the pavilion I like best is surrounded by ocean on three sides and knew Joe would enjoy that.

We wanted to keep the event small and intimate. The only people Joe didn't know in person were Galyn & Trevella, but Joe & Galyn have been following and having fun with each other on Facebook for quite sometime, so I thought it was time they met face to face...

Group photo taken by another visitor to the park: Standing L-R: William, Anthony, Galyn and Kevan. Sitting L-R: Ellen, Joe, Sonia, Trevella and Brenda

As usual, events of this type on our islands are potluck and no one knew what the rest was bringing until the morning of the picnic. William was amazed at the variety of the menu with no duplications and how well everything went together with no previous coordinating between us. It is amazing how it usually works out this way!

Our menu was: my "Kalua" Pork made in the crockpot and my Apple-Almond Slaw (I call this Apple -Macadamia Slaw, but found at the last minute I had no macadamias but did have sliced almonds, so used them instead); Brenda's Potato Salad, Ellen's Broccoli and her Egg Salad with crackers; iced tea and Kevan's Apple-Mango Wine.

The spectacular dessert contribution was a 'Watermelon Cake' made by Galyn with the help of his daughter Tavina.

I should have taken the photos of the Watermelon Cake from the other side of the table where the afternoon light was stronger... Oh, well...It was still a beautiful dessert!

"Kalua Pork" in the Crockpot

The traditional Kalua Pork is cooked in an imu (underground oven); since I couldn't do that, I decided to cook it in the crockpot. Easy, clean and the taste was ono (delicious)

Pork butt - any size that fits in your crockpot

Liquid Smoke

Hawaiian sea salt

Piece of banana leaf

I had a small 4 pound piece in the freezer. I did not thaw it beforehand.

Rub well with liquid smoke and then with sea salt. Wrap in banana leaf and place in crockpot. Turn crockpot on Low setting and let it cook all night. Shred to serve. Serve on wooden tray with a piece of banana leaf underneath.

Put in blender and mix thoroughly. I have no idea of quantities, as I just
spoon out the mayo w/a scooped, rubber spatula, sort of heaped. Just play with
it until you get the taste and consistency you find most pleasing. Should be sweet/tart.

(*) Choose a firm and tightly wrapped cabbage. Sliced very thinly and then
chopped in smaller bits, but I always use the Henckles Santuko knife which is
shaped like a veggie cleaver. I do not like using the processor for chopping the
slaw, or buying already chopped slaw mix since I prefer it to be a very fine
textured cut.

(**) As mentioned above, I normally use chopped and toaste macadamia nuts but used sliced and toasted almonds instead.

Galyn, William, Brenda, Anthony. in background, and Joe

The afternoon was gorgeous and towards the end it turned a bit windy, but it was still a fun time spent with dear friends and making new friends; enjoying their company, the delicious food and congratulating each other on our just happening to choose to live in such a glorious place!